Martin McLean, Middle School Queen, Alyssa Zaczek
Martin McLean, Middle School Queen, Alyssa Zaczek
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Martin McLean, Middle School Queen

Author: Alyssa Zaczek

Narrator: Daniel Henning

Unabridged: 6 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/12/2020


Synopsis

In this bighearted middle-grade debut, Martin McLean struggles to find his voice—and his inner diva—as he navigates friendship, family, first crushes, and a whole lot of glitter.

Seventh-grader Martin McLean has always been surrounded by people who can express themselves. His mother is an artist, his colorful Tío Billy works in theater, and his best friends Carmen and Pickle are outgoing and don't care what other people think. But Martin can only find the right words when he's answering a problem at a Mathletes competition—until his tío introduces him to the world of drag.

In a swirl of sequins and stilettos, Martin creates his fabulous drag queen alter ego, Lottie León. As Lottie, he is braver than he's ever been; but as Martin, he doesn't have the guts to tell anyone outside of his family about her. Not Carmen and Pickle, not his Mathletes teammates, and definitely not Chris, an eighth-grader who gives Martin butterflies. When Martin discovers that his first-ever drag show is the same night as the most important Mathletes tournament, he realizes that he can only pull off both appearances by revealing his true self to his friends—and channeling his inner drag superstar.

About Alyssa Zaczek

Alyssa Zaczek is an author, playwright, journalist, and a lifelong lover of words. Martin McLean, Middle School Queen is her debut novel. Originally from Chicago, Alyssa now lives in St. Cloud, Minnesota.


Reviews

Goodreads review by chris

A few quick thoughts: A) This book occasionally explores the drag scene in Bloomington, Indiana, a.k.a. the first place I truly embraced my identity. Shout out to Ginger Ale, Della Licious, Richard Cranium, Uncle Elizabeth's, my friend Kris (I regret not hanging out with you more), and the organizers......more

When I was nine, I read ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME MARGARET by Judy Blume and I had an epiphany - I wanted to do THAT. I wanted to write books that would sit next to Judy Blume's on the shelves. Books about real stuff. Hard stuff. When Martin McLean was twelve-years-old, he saw his first drag show a......more

Goodreads review by Nicole

Holy Normalizing Queerness for Kids, Batman! more when I don't have to leave for work, but uh. Don't sleep on this one, kids. The casual diversity and representation of ALL kinds is fantastic, the focus on friendship and family is amazing, the conversations about exploring and discovering yourself a......more

At first I was skeptic because I realized the book wasn't own voices and it had an irish cuban boy questioning his sexuality as a main character. Can this author tell this story? It was enjoyable and I was happy to read in the acknowledgments how many different people helped her built this book. I've......more